The Son of the Sex Pistols’ Manager Says He’s Burning $7M in Punk Memorabilia as Protest

Joe Corre has a collection punk memorabilia worth $7.2 million and he says it's all about to go up in flames. The son of the late Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood said he'll burn "vast amounts" of clothing from the punk era later this year as a protest against the celebrations honoring 40 years of punk planned by the British Library and British Film Institute.

"The Queen giving 2016, the Year of Punk, her official blessing is the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard," Corre said in a press release. "Talk about alternative and punk culture being appropriated by the mainstream. Rather than a movement for change, punk has become like a fucking museum piece or a tribute act."

Corre also told Crack, "People are feeling numb. And with numbness comes complacency. The most dangerous thing is that they have stopped fighting for what they believe in... We need to explode all the s--- once more."

While some, like journalist Paul Stokes said the act will remind us that punk "was a rejection of what had gone on before," others believe it's somewhere between a senseless waste of important artifacts and little more than a publicity stunt. It should be noted that Corre is also co-founder of the lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur.

"These items are crucial." said New York's Veronique Hyland. "[The stunt is] arguably as punk as North West wearing a Thrasher shirt to [a] Build-A-Bear Workshop."

The burning will take place in London on Nov. 26, the 40th anniversary of the Sex Pistols' first single, "Anarchy in the UK," reports Pitchfork.

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